PEORIA, Ariz. -- The battle is on for the final spot in the Mariners’ six-man Opening Day rotation, and both candidates made their first cases in Saturday afternoon’s 1-1 tie with the A’s. Right-hander Justin Dunn started and lefty Nick Margevicius followed, each pitching two scoreless innings in their Cactus League debuts.

Dunn battled some adrenaline and the atmosphere of pitching in front of fans again when he loaded the bases with a hit and two walks in the first inning before the Mariners rolled it over. He also unveiled his new-grip changeup and worked to throw it more over the plate. And his increased velocity was on display for the first time away from the Peoria Sports Complex back fields, hitting as high as 96 mph and sitting around 95. Dunn’s second inning was far smoother, a 1-2-3 frame.

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“It’s just kind of got to the point of where it’s game time, now let's get it on the plate,” Dunn said. “Before it was create as much movement as possible, get this stuff as sharp as we can. And now that we're in games, get on the plate and see how efficient we can execute pitches.”

Margevicius followed with a 1-2-3 third inning, then he gave up one walk in the fourth. He finished scoreless as well, with one strikeout. The 24-year-old waiver claim from last year put together 10 mostly solid outings with Seattle in 2020, going 2-3 with a 4.57 ERA, along with a 21.2% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate.

“Nick Margevicius does what he does,” manager Scott Servais said. “He goes out there, he pounds the strike zone, gets quick outs.”

Dunn likely has the leg up for the gig given that he is right-handed in a rotation that already has four lefties locked in, as well as his status as one of the foundational pieces of the rebuild. But the Mariners still want to see results this spring after encouraging Dunn to focus more on command this offseason. In 10 starts last season, the 25-year-old had a 15.7% walk rate, the second-highest rate among 111 pitchers who threw at least 40 innings. He finished 4-1 with a 4.34 ERA and 98 ERA+.

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Whoever doesn’t break camp in the rotation likely won’t be destined for a long-relief role on the big league roster. The Mariners would like to keep both arms stretched out to five-six innings by the start of the season and keep them at that threshold in case the rotation weathers attrition, such as injuries. So that would likely mean a spot at the alternate training site, which will again be in place after Triple-A Tacoma announced on Tuesday that the start of its season was pushed back to May 6.

Top pitching prospects join camp

Emerson Hancock and Brandon Williamson -- two of the Mariners’ Top 10 prospects -- have joined the big league club in Peoria, where they will begin gearing up for Minor League Spring Training, which begins after the big leaguers depart for Opening Day on April 1.

Hancock and Williamson will not pitch in Cactus League games. They were added because the Mariners had a few spots under the 75-man limit to Spring Training rosters, which were initially left vacated for the potential signing of free agents. Seattle is now at 73.

Hancock, MLB Pipeline’s No. 31 overall prospect, will have received more big league exposure than he otherwise would’ve under circumstances that weren’t impacted by the pandemic. After being selected by Seattle with the No. 6 overall pick in last year’s MLB Draft, he joined the club weeks later at Summer Camp, and then he played at the alternate training site for the regular season.

In a “normal” world, the University of Georgia product would’ve certainly been destined for Rookie ball last year and Minor League Spring Training in 2021. Williamson, Seattle’s second-round pick in 2019, was also in Summer Camp and at the alternate site.

“It gets them their season going and get some exposure here around some of the older players in the organization as well,” Servais said.

Paxton debut still unclear

The Mariners still have not yet determined when James Paxton will make his first Cactus League start, though his turn would be in line for Tuesday against the Royals.

Paxton was slated to start Wednesday’s 9-9 tie against the Cubs, but he asked that it be pushed back to instead pitch a simulated game and work on his mechanics and secondary pitches. The Mariners have maintained that Paxton is fully healthy.

Yusei Kikuchi, who had a strong debut against the Indians and has been touted for a possible “breakout” year, will again pitch against the Tribe for his second start on Monday. 

Up next

Touted No. 4 prospect Logan Gilbert will face an opposing team for the first time in nearly one year to the day when he starts Sunday’s road game against the Angels. The last time he was on the hill was also against the Halos, and he impressively punched out Shohei Ohtani and Jo Adell. First pitch is slated for 12:10 p.m. PT, and you can watch it live on MLB.TV.

Because the Mariners were unable to schedule a “B” game, No. 1 starter Marco Gonzales will make his turn through the rotation in a simulated game in Peoria.